Written Answers Tuesday 14 November 2006

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to local councils on alcohol to help them to operate and co-operate with the Executive-funded Orion database on facilities dealing with alcohol problems.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive does not give financial support to Local Councils on Alcohol, but provides core and project funding to Alcohol Focus Scotland which supports the council network. The National Alcohol Information Resource provides advice to local agencies on information collection and analysis.

Alcohol Misuse

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has in place, or are planned, to gather more information and statistics about people currently engaging with alcohol treatment agencies in order to enable future alcohol services to be better targeted on the likely service users.

Lewis Macdonald: Local alcohol and drug action teams (ADATs) have responsibility for assessing, planning and delivering alcohol services, including the collection of information about local need and service capacity. Each ADAT is required to submit a corporate action plan to the Executive which includes information on the number of people in contact with alcohol services in the local area.

  At national level, the Executive is funding a study which will estimate the number of people drinking at harmful levels and chart the availability of treatment services in their local area.

Alcohol Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children aged between eight and 15 years were admitted to hospital because of alcohol-related problems in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive does not hold information on admissions. However, information on the number of discharges from Scottish general/acute hospitals of children aged from eight to 15 with an alcohol-related diagnosis, broken down by hospital, is presented in the following table.

  Table 1: Scottish General Acute Hospitals: Number of Discharge Records for People Aged 8 to 15 Years, with an Explicit Diagnosis of an Alcohol-Related Condition6,7; 1997-98 to 2004-05

  

Health Board of Treatment, Hospital
Discharge Period, Number of Discharges


1997-98
1998-99
1999-2000
2000-01


Scotland
815
687
774
777


Argyll and Clyde
59
52
78
78


Campbeltown Hospital
2
2
6
1


Dunaros Eventide Home
0
0
1
0


Dunoon General Hospital
8
10
9
14


Inverclyde Royal Hospital
16
9
13
11


Lorn and Islands District Gen Hospital
7
5
10
13


Mid Argyll Hospital
0
0
0
4


Royal Alexandra Hospital
16
18
27
28


Vale of Leven General Hospital
9
6
10
6


Victoria Hospital
1
2
2
1


Ayrshire and Arran
113
101
94
73


Arran War Memorial Hospital
2
0
0
1


Ayr Hospital
55
63
45
30


Crosshouse Hospital
55
37
48
41


Davidson Cottage Hospital
1
1
0
0


Lady Margaret Hospital
0
0
1
1


Borders
23
25
22
26


Borders General Hospital
23
23
22
26


The Knoll Hospital
0
2
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
31
28
24
25


Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary
27
23
21
23


Garrick Hospital
4
4
3
2


Kirkcudbright Hospital
0
1
0
0


Fife
36
32
35
34


Adamson Hospital
0
0
0
1


Queen Margaret Hospital
9
7
9
9


St Andrews Memorial Hospital
0
0
1
1


Victoria Hospital
27
25
25
23


Forth Valley
18
29
29
35


Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary
1
6
8
8


Stirling Royal Infirmary
17
23
21
27


Grampian
140
99
113
116


Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
82
54
65
48


Chalmers Hospital
2
2
2
1


Dr Gray’s Hospital
17
13
19
20


Fraserburgh Hospital
0
1
0
1


Inverurie Hospital
0
0
0
0


Jubilee Hospital
1
0
0
0


Kincardine Community Hospital
0
0
0
0


Leanchoil Hospital
0
0
1
0


Peterhead Community Hospital
0
1
1
2


Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital
36
23
23
41


Seafield Hospital
0
0
0
2


Stephen Cottage Hospital
0
1
0
0


Turner Memorial Hospital
1
3
2
1


Turriff Cottage Hospital
1
1
0
0


Greater Glasgow
126
103
107
111


Glasgow Royal Infirmary
13
15
16
15


Royal Hospital for Sick Children
40
31
29
26


Southern General Hospital
21
16
8
24


Stobhill Hospital
21
17
13
23


Victoria Infirmary
18
15
29
14


Western Infirmary/Gartnavel General
13
9
12
9


Highland
52
45
39
50


Belford Hospital
8
9
1
4


Caithness General Hospital
4
4
2
3


Dunbar Hospital
2
1
1
1


Ian Charles Hospital
1
0
0
0


Lawson Memorial Hospital
1
0
1
1


Mackinnon Memorial Hospital
0
0
2
2


Portree Hospital
3
2
3
0


Raigmore Hospital
33
29
29
39


Lanarkshire
44
50
70
56


Hairmyres Hospital
9
8
18
12


Law Hospital
18
20
17
11


Monklands Hospital
17
22
35
33


Wishaw General Hospital
0
0
0
0


Lothian
92
49
69
64


Edinburgh Dental Institute
0
0
1
0


Royal Hospital for Sick Children
17
5
20
14


Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
46
29
26
33


St John’s Hospital At Howden
29
14
22
17


Western General Hospital
0
1
0
0


Orkney Islands
5
5
6
8


Balfour Hospital
5
5
6
8


Shetland Islands
6
8
6
5


Gilbert Bain Hospital
6
8
6
5


Tayside
66
57
81
84


Aberfeldy Community Hospital
2
0
0
0


Arbroath Infirmary
1
2
0
1


Blairgowrie Community Hospital
1
1
2
1


Crieff Community Hospital
0
0
0
1


Dundee Royal Infirmary
5
1
0
0


Irvine Memorial Hospital
0
0
0
1


Ninewells Hospital
35
37
58
57


Perth Royal Infirmary
13
13
16
14


St Margaret’s Hospital
0
0
0
0


Stracathro Hospital
9
3
5
9


Western Isles
4
4
1
12


Daliburgh Hospital
1
0
0
0


St Brendan’s Hospital
0
1
0
1


Uist and Barra Hospital
0
0
0
0


Western Isles Hospital
3
3
1
11



  

Health Board of Treatment, Hospital
Discharge Period, Number of Discharges


2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05P


Scotland
741
665
583
548


Argyll and Clyde
66
50
46
50


Campbeltown Hospital
6
0
3
2


Dunaros Eventide Home
1
0
1
0


Dunoon General Hospital
7
4
6
6


Inverclyde Royal Hospital
7
13
11
9


Lorn and Islands District Gen Hospital
8
9
8
3


Mid Argyll Hospital
2
4
2
3


Royal Alexandra Hospital
21
12
9
20


Vale of Leven General Hospital
11
8
5
5


Victoria Hospital
3
0
1
2


Ayrshire and Arran
99
110
90
107


Arran War Memorial Hospital
0
3
3
0


Ayr Hospital
45
52
49
58


Crosshouse Hospital
52
55
38
47


Davidson Cottage Hospital
2
0
0
0


Lady Margaret Hospital
0
0
0
2


Borders
29
37
33
19


Borders General Hospital
29
37
33
19


The Knoll Hospital
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
17
11
12
9


Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary
14
5
12
8


Garrick Hospital
3
6
0
1


Kirkcudbright Hospital
0
0
0
0


Fife
33
23
30
17


Adamson Hospital
0
0
0
0


Queen Margaret Hospital
9
6
2
8


St Andrews Memorial Hospital
1
0
0
0


Victoria Hospital
23
17
28
9


Forth Valley
22
26
30
12


Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary
6
7
6
4


Stirling Royal Infirmary
16
19
24
8


Grampian
93
93
89
68


Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
31
39
32
29


Chalmers Hospital
0
0
1
1


Dr Gray’s Hospital
21
18
21
14


Fraserburgh Hospital
1
1
0
0


Inverurie Hospital
0
1
0
0


Jubilee Hospital
1
0
1
0


Kincardine Community Hospital
0
0
1
0


Leanchoil Hospital
0
0
1
0


Peterhead Community Hospital
0
0
1
0


Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital
36
31
31
22


Seafield Hospital
0
1
0
1


Stephen Cottage Hospital
0
0
0
1


Turner Memorial Hospital
1
1
0
0


Turriff Cottage Hospital
2
1
0
0


Greater Glasgow
114
76
45
76


Glasgow Royal Infirmary
21
18
8
19


Royal Hospital for Sick Children
26
16
12
11


Southern General Hospital
14
6
5
11


Stobhill Hospital
21
11
6
11


Victoria Infirmary
27
23
11
22


Western Infirmary/Gartnavel General
5
2
3
2


Highland
40
52
45
48


Belford Hospital
12
5
6
5


Caithness General Hospital
5
8
9
5


Dunbar Hospital
1
1
0
1


Ian Charles Hospital
0
0
0
0


Lawson Memorial Hospital
1
0
0
0


Mackinnon Memorial Hospital
1
3
2
4


Portree Hospital
1
1
0
3


Raigmore Hospital
19
34
28
30


Lanarkshire
74
55
40
45


Hairmyres Hospital
24
18
10
7


Law Hospital
2
0
0
0


Monklands Hospital
33
12
10
11


Wishaw General Hospital
15
25
20
27


Lothian
69
53
54
41


Edinburgh Dental Institute
0
0
0
0


Royal Hospital for Sick Children
16
10
7
6


Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
38
26
22
16


St John’s Hospital At Howden
15
13
20
17


Western General Hospital
0
4
5
2


Orkney Islands
7
8
6
6


Balfour Hospital
7
8
6
6


Shetland Islands
5
6
6
4


Gilbert Bain Hospital
5
6
6
4


Tayside
62
49
34
37


Aberfeldy Community Hospital
0
0
0
0


Arbroath Infirmary
0
0
0
0


Blairgowrie Community Hospital
0
0
0
0


Crieff Community Hospital
0
0
0
0


Dundee Royal Infirmary
0
0
0
0


Irvine Memorial Hospital
0
0
0
0


Ninewells Hospital
42
32
25
30


Perth Royal Infirmary
20
17
9
6


St Margaret’s Hospital
0
0
0
1


Stracathro Hospital
0
0
0
0


Western Isles
11
16
23
9


Daliburgh Hospital
0
0
0
0


St Brendan’s Hospital
0
0
2
0


Uist and Barra Hospital
0
0
0
1


Western Isles Hospital
11
16
21
8



  PPending.

Alzheimer's Disease

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the position is in Scotland regarding the prescription of Aricept to treat people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Mr Andy Kerr: Aricept will continue to be recommended for treatment by the NHS of patients who have moderate to moderately severe Alzheimer’s Disease.

Benefits

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has about how many people have been in receipt of (a) jobseekers allowance, (b) incapacity benefit and (c) disability living allowance in each year since 1997, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Malcolm Chisholm: UK welfare benefits are a reserved matter to Westminster. Therefore enquiries about statistics of recipients should be addressed to the Department of Work and Pensions.

Central Heating Programme

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the installation specification for the central heating programme, previously administered by Eaga Partnership Ltd, has changed since the contract was awarded to Scottish Gas.

Johann Lamont: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  As part of the re-tendering process the opportunity was taken to update and improve the specification for delivery of the central heating and Warm Deal Programmes.

  A copy of the contract, including the specification, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40709). For reasons of commercial confidentiality certain sections of the contract were withheld.

Concessionary Travel

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the uptake of concessionary travel cards under the national concessionary travel scheme has been in (a) Dundee, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire.

Tavish Scott: The number of National Entitlement Cards, which give an entitlement to the Scotland-Wide Free Bus Travel for Older and Disabled People, within the requested areas are as follows:

  (a) Dundee

  

Category of Eligibility
Number of Cardholders


60+
27,294


Disabled
2,219


Disabled plus companion
484


Visually impaired
569


Visually impaired plus companion
71


Total
30,637



  (b) Angus

  

Category of Eligibility
Number of Cardholders


60+
19,984


Disabled
738


Disabled plus companion
192


Visually impaired
253


Visually impaired plus companion
77


Total
21,244



  (c) Aberdeenshire

  

Category of Eligibility
Number of Cardholders


60+
33,587


Disabled
1,723


Disabled plus companion
1,096


Visually impaired
81


Visually impaired plus companion
388


Total
36,875

Council Tax

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it issues to local authorities on publicising the availability of council tax discounts.

George Lyon: The publication of information on council tax discounts is a matter for local authorities themselves. The Executive also provides a range of information at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/counciltax.

Council Tax

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people eligible for the single person’s council tax discount currently receive it, broken down by local authority.

Mr Tom McCabe: There is no information held centrally relating to the take-up rate of the single person’s council tax discount scheme. Information is however available relating to the current number of dwellings, as recorded on the valuation list, where the amount of council tax payable by these properties is subject to a 25% discount. The information by local authority area is reported in the following table.

  

 
Total Number of Dwellings Subject to a 25% Discount1


Scotland
918,199


Aberdeen City
44,916


Aberdeenshire
30,029


Angus
19,287


Argyll and Bute
15,368


Clackmannanshire
8,432


Dumfries and Galloway
24,295


Dundee City
31,272


East Ayrshire
21,198


East Dunbartonshire
13,957


East Lothian
14,312


East Renfrewshire
11,699


Edinburgh, City of
95,529


Eilean Siar
4,871


Falkirk
25,279


Fife
63,142


Glasgow City
137,212


Highland
35,971


Inverclyde
15,351


Midlothian
11,236


Moray
13,482


North Ayrshire
25,546


North Lanarkshire
52,684


Orkney Islands
3,177


Perth and Kinross
21,597


Renfrewshire
31,171


Scottish Borders
18,712


Shetland Islands
3,354


South Ayrshire
18,556


South Lanarkshire
50,751


Stirling
12,795


West Dunbartonshire
17,629


West Lothian
25,389



  Source: Council Tax Base (CTAXBASE) 2006 return.

  Note: 1: This is the number of dwellings shown in the valuation list where the amount of council tax payable is subject to a 25% discount of council tax under the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

  Note that the figures in the above table represent the number of dwellings subject to this discount as shown by the valuation list – not the actual take-up of the scheme.

Creative Scotland

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected cost is of the creation of Creative Scotland and from where this cost will be met.

Patricia Ferguson: I do not anticipate any costs involved in the establishment of Creative Scotland that will require specific funding in addition to the general administrative costs of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, its antecedent bodies. Work on this project within the Executive has been incorporated into the activities of the Cultural Policy Division.

Credit Unions

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to HM Treasury to request its support for the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs’ amendment to the proposed European Directive on payment services in the international market in order to exclude credit unions from its scope.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has asked HM Treasury to seek derogation from the proposed European Directive on payment services in the international market in order to exclude credit unions from its scope.

Johann Lamont: HM Treasury is already seeking a full exemption from the Directive for all British credit unions.

Culture

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to promote Scotland’s music industry at home and abroad.

Patricia Ferguson: A very wide variety of ways are used to promote Scotland’s music industry at home and abroad by the Scottish Executive and its agencies. Examples include:

  Scottish Enterprise: the Musicwise project, in partnership with the Musicians Union, helps musicians to develop portfolio careers;

  Highlands and Islands Enterprise – Around £150,000 per annum goes to EVENTS/HAIL; due to the Highland Year of Culture, this is likely to increase in 2007;

  Scottish Arts Council: SXSW – the world’s largest trade-fair and showcase opportunity for the contemporary music sector which is held annually in Austin, Texas; Showcase Scotland at Celtic Connections – the showcase uses the middle weekend of the Celtic Connections festival to host a large number of overseas music professionals and offer them information and opportunities to hear the Scottish artists playing in the extensive Celtic Connections programme; WOMEX 2006 – this will take place in Seville and will have a Scottish presence with a showcase by Salsa Celtica. SAC will support a shared trade stand with "Hands up for Trad", and

  Scottish Development International (SDI) – for several years, companies have been assisted to attend and exhibit at MIDEM, one of the main music industry markets. SDI provided financial support to the trade association AIM (Association of Independent Music) to ensure Scottish companies presence on a new, unified, UK-wide stand this year.

Economy

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28424 by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006, what total amount of public funds was specifically provided by Scottish Development International and its predecessors to inward investment projects in each year since 1996, broken down by local authority area.

Nicol Stephen: Scottish Development International makes potential inward investors aware of any financial assistance that may be available to them but does not administer any grant schemes. The grants are administered by the Scottish Executive and the Enterprise Networks and are as follows.

  RSA Scotland:

  http://www.rsascotland.gov.uk/.

  Scottish Executive innovation grants including SMART:SCOTLAND, SPUR, SPURPLUS, SCORE and SEEKIT:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/support/16879/6780.

  Other funding is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources it plans to put into schools that are not meeting HM Inspectorate of Education’s standards in all aspects of inspection criteria.

Peter Peacock: As a result of devolved funding, both a school and its respective education authority have flexibility to divert resources internally to address potential areas of weakness. Additionally, where schools are found by inspectors to be underperforming, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education will continue to engage with both the school and the education authority, offering further support and expert advice on securing sustained improvement.

  Schools with clear plans to transform outcomes for their pupils may, with the support of their local authorities, be eligible to apply for funding from our Schools of Ambition programme, as appropriate.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on whether the electromagnetic spectrum in Scotland belongs to anyone and, if so, to whom it belongs.

Nicol Stephen: The electromagnetic spectrum comprises a wide range of frequencies. Under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 as amended, installation and use of equipment that operates in that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum consisting of frequencies of up to 3,000GHz must be individually licensed or exempt from the requirement to be licensed. Securing the optimal use of radio spectrum throughout the UK, including granting licences and making exemption regulations, is one of the responsibilities of the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Further information on spectrum management by Ofcom can be obtained at www.ofcom.org.uk .

Employment

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will provide to workers at Solectron in Dunfermline to find new employment.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive’s Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) framework will provide those affected by Solectron’s decision with support, advice and guidance on a wide range of retraining and upskilling opportunities to help them access alternative employment. This comprehensive support includes: Jobcentre Plus services; one-to-one counselling; access to high-quality training; seminars on skills such as CV writing and starting a business, and access to IT facilities.

  The Fife PACE team has been in contact with Solectron and will be providing significant support to employees.

Energy Conservation

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the projects supported by the Energy Saving Trust that have been completed in (a) Scotland and (b) the Highlands and Islands.

Nicol Stephen: As of 10 October 2006, through the Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) the Energy Saving Trust (EST) has provided grant assistance to 1,207 householders across Scotland. Information on recipients is not held centrally. Sixty-eight community project grants have also been supported by the EST. A summary of these community grants can be found on the EST website at http://www.est.org.uk/schri/community/projects.cfm .

  In the Highlands and Islands, the community grant programme is not managed by EST and is the responsibility of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. (HIE.)

  In addition, the EST delivers a range of energy efficiency programmes. These include:

  A network of Energy Efficiency Advice Centres

  A Local Support Programme

  CafE (Community Action for Energy)

  Scottish Local Authority Training Resource

  A Business Adviser Network.

  Information on individual projects supported through these programmes is not held centrally.

Energy Conservation

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how and by whom the project work supported by the Energy Saving Trust is monitored to review its effectiveness in meeting the Executive’s policy objectives.

Nicol Stephen: The Energy Saving Trust (EST) in Scotland is funded by the Energy Division of the Executive’s Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning department.

  In December each year the EST submit a draft annual workplan for discussion and approval by Executive officials for the following financial year to ensure that it meets Scottish policy objectives.

  Further to this, grant claims are submitted and approved on a monthly basis. The EST also provide quarterly reports which detail their performance to date against mutually agreed key performance indicators and targets. Regular review meetings on progress against the workplan are held between officials and the EST’s programme managers throughout the year.

  For the Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) EST provide officials with monthly monitoring reports on outputs. These reports, and all aspects of the scheme, are discussed at regular review meetings. In addition an independent evaluation of SCHRI was published earlier this year.

  Each year the EST carry out an internal evaluation of the previous year’s activities. This work calculates the outputs (in terms of carbon and financial savings) achieved by each programme. Once available the results for the Scottish programmes form the basis of meetings between the EST and the Scottish Executive.

Further and Higher Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is its policy, or that of the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, to assess students who have gained a Higher National Diploma and subsequently choose to enter higher education at first year level as repeating a first year of study.

Nicol Stephen: It is the current policy of the Scottish Executive that students who have gained a Higher National Diploma (HND) and subsequently choose to enter higher education at first year level are assessed as repeating a first year of study.

  This policy is intended to encourage institutions to accept HND students into second or subsequent years and as a result to improve articulation.

Health

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of a shortage of lymphoedema practitioners in the Lothian area.

Lewis Macdonald: I understand that NHSLothian has been working on plans to develop a dedicated service for patients with both primary and secondary Lymphoedema, in all care settings. Edinburgh Community Health Partnership has agreed to host the service for patients from across Lothian.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any concerns from the medical community about the use of hormone replacement therapy in Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: The safety of medicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA and its independent advisory committee the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) keep the safety of all licensed medicines, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT), under close review.

  The MHRA and the CHM run the UK Yellow card Scheme which is used to collect information from health professionals and patients on suspected adverse drug reactions. The MHRA has advised that all of the important information on the safety of HRT has come from large epidemiological studies. They are not aware of any studies that demonstrate that the balance and risks of HRT differ in Scotland.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commission any studies into adverse affects of hormone replacement therapy.

Lewis Macdonald: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and healthcare needs in Scotland. CSO does not normally commission research but supports research projects of a sufficiently high standard initiated by the research community in Scotland. This role is well known and advertised throughout the healthcare and academic community.

  CSO is currently funding one small project on the experience of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) among young women with premature ovarian failure but nothing specifically on adverse affects of HRT. CSO would be pleased to consider proposals for research in this area which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwifery graduates there have been in each of the last three years, broken down by university.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number of graduates from Health Department funded pre-registration midwifery programmes is given in the following table.

  

Educational Institution
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Bell College
20
20
21


Glasgow Caledonian University
27
30
29


Napier University
54
36
39


The Robert Gordon University
8
23
19


University of Dundee
23
20
16


University of Paisley
35
34
42


University of Stirling
24
17
33


Total
191
180
199



  Source: NES Computerised Training Index, November 2006.

  Note: 1. These people have successfully completed midwifery programmes of preparation and hence have become eligible to register as midwives with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has no knowledge of how many actually choose to register, or of where or whether they subsequently practise as midwives.

Health

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has given the Scottish Health Council since its inception.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Health Council was established on 1 April 2005 and its allocation in that financial year was £2.391 million. Its allocation for 2006-07 is £2.546 million.

Health

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Health Council receives funding from any source other than the Executive and, if so, from whom.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Health Council receives all of its funding from the Scottish Executive.

Higher Education

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to alleviate unemployment among physiotherapy graduates.

Mr Andy Kerr: Over the past 10 years the numbers of physiotherapists working in NHS Scotland have increased by almost 38%. Locally, it is for NHS boards to plan the number and skill mix of staff needed to deliver services in their area including the recruitment of newly qualified staff. We have asked NHS boards to look at their vacancies and consider whether there are opportunities for newly qualified physiotherapists through reviewing the skill mix of existing services with a view to enriching this to accommodate newly qualified practitioners.

  Nationally, we have recruitment and retention initiatives in place, and are provided funding for educational solutions for allied health professional employment. NHS Education for Scotland is gathering evidence about current physiotherapy opportunities across Scotland, considering options for ensuring that physiotherapists remain work ready and establishing a national NHS Scotland Solutions Group involving key stakeholders, including the Professional Body.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28683 by Mr Andy Kerr on 24 October 2006, how many cases of MRSA and MSSA there were for the third quarter of 2006, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information will be published by Health Protection Scotland in January 2007.

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all ballots on local authority housing whole stock transfer that have taken place since 1999, giving the outcome in each case.

Malcolm Chisholm: The ballots and results are as follows:

  

Council
Ballot Result


Scottish Borders
82.4% for transfer, 17.6% against, turnout 76.8%


Dumfries and Galloway
65.8% for transfer, 34.2% against, turnout 71.9%


Glasgow
58.3% for transfer, 41.7% against, turnout 64.4%


Western Isles
69% for transfer, 31% against, turnout 66.3%


Argyll and Bute
89.6% for transfer, 10.4% against, turnout 62.8%


Edinburgh
47.3% for transfer, 52.7% against, turnout 60%


Stirling
31.9% for transfer, 68.1% against, turnout 67.2%


Renfrewshire
49.8% for transfer, 50.2% against, turnout 54.8%

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and which, tenants’ organisations have sought whole or partial council house stock transfer ballots since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter between landlords and their tenant organisations and the information is not held by the Executive. It is for councils, as owners of the housing stock, to apply for the consent of Scottish ministers before transferring ownership of their housing to Registered Social Landlords. In making such application, a council is required to submit the result of the ballot it has conducted to establish whether or not the tenants wish the transfer to proceed.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-23939 and S2W-28199 by Malcolm Chisholm and Johann Lamont on 16 March and 15 September 2006 respectively, when Communities Scotland’s guidance to clarify the process and nature of second stage transfer (SST) of housing stock will be issued and when it expects to receive and make public the findings of the Ministerial Progress Group on SST and the joint team of officials examining the complex financial issues raised by SST.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Joint Team’s report on Second Stage Transfers is being finalised and will be made available soon. The draft guidance on Second Stage Transfers has been available since 25 August 2006. The regulator is currently analysing responses to the consultation on the draft guidance, which ended on 20 October. The guidance will be issued shortly, once these responses and the findings of the Joint Team have been taken into account.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought independent or external advice on the financial shortfall for second stage transfer (SST) of housing stock referred to in the "Financial Realities of SST" paper provided by Glasgow Housing Association in December 2005.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has had access to various forms of advice on various financial issues related to Second Stage Transfers, including those referred to in Glasgow Housing Association’s paper.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the Deputy Minister for Communities on 16 March 2006 that both the Deputy Minister and Minister for Communities view 2006 as a pivotal year for second stage transfer (SST) of housing stock in Glasgow, whether the ministers still consider this to be the case and, if so, when the first SST in Glasgow will take place.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive still considers that this is a pivotal year for Second Stage Transfers (SST). The work of the Joint Team on financial issues will be important in providing a shared evidence base to allow the key partners to consider how best to move forward with SST. We would like the first transfer to take place as soon as possible so that lessons can be learned and the process can be refined before other transfers take place.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that any second stage transfer of housing stock in Glasgow will have a financially neutral effect on Glasgow Housing Association and its operations, as referred to in Glasgow City Council’s first stage consultation document.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is one of the conditions of Second Stage Transfer that it should have a broadly neutral financial effect on Glasgow Housing Association.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reached agreement with Glasgow Housing Association on the valuation methodology used to assess the price that individual local housing associations will be required to meet in respect of second stage transfer of housing stock.

Malcolm Chisholm: In 2005 the Scottish Executive reached agreement with Glasgow Housing Association on valuation principles for Second Stage Transfer rather than a particular methodology.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that Glasgow Housing Association has exhausted all possible options to deliver second stage transfer of housing stock in the form originally promised by the Executive.

Malcolm Chisholm: Second Stage Transfer was a core part of the promises made to tenants by the Scottish Executive, Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Housing Association, and these organisations are continuing to work together on how to achieve it.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Communities is confident that he has been kept fully appraised by Executive and Communities Scotland officials of the financial implications and complexities of delivering Glasgow’s second stage transfer of housing stock in the form originally promised by the Executive.

Malcolm Chisholm: Yes.

Industry

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what strategic initiatives will be deployed to help reinvigorate the electronic sector in Fife, following the closure of Lexmark in 2005 and the announcement by Solectron that it intends to close its operations in Dunfermline.

Nicol Stephen: The Electronics sector falls within the recently announced Priority Industries for Scottish Enterprise. A large number of the electronics companies in Fife receive dedicated account management support from Scottish Enterprise Fife for marketing and strategy development, product and technology development, process improvement and leadership and workforce development. Companies in the sector are also eligible for support from generic programmes, including the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service, SCIS, SMART and SPUR and access to National Training Programmes.

  In addition, Scottish Development International (SDI) is working with the electronics industry to help it evolve from its traditional manufacturing base into a knowledge-intensive sector by supporting Scottish electronics companies to achieve success in global markets, by attracting inward investment to complement Scotland’s existing sector strengths, and by supporting the commercialisation of the R&D base internationally.

  With specific reference to Lexmark and Solectron, these companies are receiving assistance from Scottish Enterprise Fife and its partners to reduce the economic impact resulting from their respective circumstances. Employees of the companies are being supported through the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative.

Information Technology

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what public sector sites in the south of Scotland will receive broadband connectivity as a result of the Pathfinder Project.

Nicol Stephen: All 201 schools in the south of Scotland pathfinder area will receive advanced broadband connectivity as a result of the Pathfinder Project. In addition a further 209 public sites in the area, ranging from council offices to museums, libraries and leisure centres will also be directly connected to the pathfinder network in the south of Scotland.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases have been referred to the appeal court on the grounds of an alleged misdirection of a jury by a judge when summing-up in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Court Service.

Learning Difficulties

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils had specific learning difficulties in each of the last two years.

Robert Brown: The requested figures on how many pupils had specific learning difficulties are published annually in Pupils in Scotland , which is available on the Executive website:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/28083932/9

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/04/11114958/50073.

Mental Health

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children suffering from mental ill-health have been admitted to adult hospital wards in each year since 1999.

Lewis Macdonald: The numbers of children (less than 18 years of age) admitted to general facilities in Scottish psychiatric hospitals for calendar years 1999 to 2003 are shown in the following table.

  

 
 
Calendar Year


1999
2000
2001
2002
2003P


Total patients admitted
348
322
318
310
262


Psychiatric Hospitals with no child /adolescent facilities
 
 
 
 
 


- patients admitted to all facilities
211
184
201
182
168


Psychiatric Hospitals with child /adolescent facilities
 
 
 
 
 


- patients admitted to child / adolescent facilities
55
62
78
53
31


- patients admitted to general facilities1
111
93
75
101
72



  PProvisional.

  Source: ISD SMR04 linked catalogue.

  Note: 1. Due to coding inconsistencies across health boards, these figures may be an overcount.

  Patients admitted more than once within a year may be counted in more than one facility category in the above table. The column sum may therefore exceed the patient total.

Ministerial Correspondence

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Environment and Rural Development will reply to the letter dated 14 September 2006 from the MP for Banff and Buchan in respect of water charges and Peterhead businesses.

Rhona Brankin: I replied to your letter of 14 September 2006 on these issues on 23 October. The Minister for Environment and Rural Development replied to the MP for Banff and Buchan’s letter of 23 August on the same issues on 26 September.

Ministerial Visits

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ministerial visits to each local authority area have been made in each year since 1999 by (a) Robert Brown MSP, (b) Ross Finnie MSP, (c) George Lyon MSP, (d) Euan Robson MSP, (e) Tavish Scott MSP, (f) Iain Smith MSP, (g) Nicol Stephen MSP and (h) Jim Wallace MSP.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

NHS Staff

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to create additional junior posts for physiotherapists in the NHS.

Mr Andy Kerr: Decisions about the numbers and skill mix of staff are for NHS boards to make, according to the healthcare needs of their populations. Over the last 10 years, the numbers of physiotherapists working in NHS Scotland has increased by almost 38%.

  The Scottish Executive has supported NHS boards in developing an appropriate and flexible skill mix, creating more opportunities for junior staff by providing funding for Allied Health Professional Consultant and specialist practitioner posts, funding for Continuous Professional Development and funding for succession planning through the provision of an AHP Leadership programme.

NHS Staff

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many physiotherapists working in the NHS are aged (a) 21 to 30, (b) 31 to 40, (c) 41 to 50, (d) 51 to 60 and (e) over 60, also broken down by NHS board and expressed as a percentage of all NHS physiotherapists.

Mr Andy Kerr: The following table shows the headcount number and percentages of qualified physiotherapists by NHS board and selected age groups. The latest available data is at 30 September 2005.

  Table 1, NHS Scotland Workforce Statistics, Qualified Physiotherapists by NHS Board, Headcount at 30 September 2005

  

 
 Total
 20-24
 25-29
 30-34
 35-39
 40-44


 No.
 %
 No.
 %
 No.
 %
 No.
 %
 No.
 %


 Scotland
 2,571
 244
 9.5
 500
 19.4
 376
 14.6
 381
 14.8
 424
 16.5


 NHS Ayrshire and Arran
 202
 20
 9.9
 39
 19.3
 24
 11.9
 37
 18.3
 33
 16.3


 NHS Borders
 58
 2
 3.4
 9
 15.5
 6
 10.3
 6
 10.3
 10
 17.2


 NHS Argyll and Clyde
 194
 18
 9.3
 34
 17.5
 27
 13.9
 26
 13.4
 31
 16.0


 NHS Fife
 174
 10
 5.7
 27
 15.5
 26
 14.9
 20
 11.5
 31
 17.8


 NHS Greater Glasgow
 519
 59
 11.4
 118
 22.7
 80
 15.4
 83
 16.0
 69
 13.3


 NHS Highland
 109
 13
 11.9
 12
 11.0
 11
 10.1
 19
 17.4
 15
 13.8


 Golden Jubilee
 10
 -
 0.0
 4
 40.0
 1
 10.0
 2
 20.0
 3
 30.0


 NHS Lanarkshire
 195
 27
 13.8
 33
 16.9
 23
 11.8
 31
 15.9
 42
 21.5


 NHS Grampian
 264
 30
 11.4
 48
 18.2
 39
 14.8
 40
 15.2
 38
 14.4


 NHS Orkney
 14
 -
 0.0
 1
 7.1
 -
 0.0
 7
 50.0
 1
 7.1


 NHS Lothian
 430
 26
 6.0
 100
 23.3
 79
 18.4
 57
 13.3
 74
 17.2


 NHS Tayside
 191
 20
 10.5
 36
 18.8
 28
 14.7
 25
 13.1
 34
 17.8


 NHS Forth Valley
 125
 13
 10.4
 27
 21.6
 19
 15.2
 16
 12.8
 23
 18.4


 NHS Western Isles
 11
 -
 0.0
 -
 0.0
 3
 27.3
 3
 27.3
 3
 27.3


 NHS National Services Scotland
 1
 -
 0.0
 -
 0.0
 -
 0.0
 -
 0.0
 -
 0.0


 NHS Dumfries and Galloway
 62
 6
 9.7
 10
 16.1
 7
 11.3
 6
 9.7
 14
 22.6


 NHS Shetland
 12
 -
 0.0
 2
 16.7
 3
 25.0
 3
 25.0
 3
 25.0



  Table 1, NHS Scotland Workforce Statistics, Qualified Physiotherapists by NHS Board, Headcount at 30 September 2005

  

 
45-49
50-54
55-59
60+


No.
%
No.
%
No.
%
No.
%


Scotland
251
9.8
184
7.2
147
5.7
64
2.5


NHS Ayrshire and Arran
20
9.9
13
6.4
12
5.9
4
2.0


NHS Borders
12
20.7
4
6.9
6
10.3
3
5.2


NHS Argyll and Clyde
19
9.8
11
5.7
20
10.3
8
4.1


NHS Fife
22
12.6
19
10.9
12
6.9
7
4.0


NHS Greater Glasgow
46
8.9
25
4.8
27
5.2
12
2.3


NHS Highland
14
12.8
12
11.0
8
7.3
5
4.6


Golden Jubilee
-
0.0
-
0.0
-
0.0
-
0.0


NHS Lanarkshire
15
7.7
16
8.2
6
3.1
2
1.0


NHS Grampian
22
8.3
25
9.5
17
6.4
5
1.9


NHS Orkney
1
7.1
4
28.6
-
0.0
-
0.0


NHS Lothian
39
9.1
28
6.5
22
5.1
5
1.2


NHS Tayside
20
10.5
15
7.9
8
4.2
5
2.6


NHS Forth Valley
9
7.2
7
5.6
7
5.6
4
3.2


NHS Western Isles
-
0.0
-
0.0
1
9.1
1
9.1


NHS National Services Scotland
-
0.0
1
100.0
-
0.0
-
0.0


NHS Dumfries and Galloway
11
17.7
4
6.5
1
1.6
3
4.8


NHS Shetland
1
8.3
-
0.0
-
0.0
-
0.0

NHS Staff

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there are age and experience imbalances within NHS physiotherapy services and, if so, how it intends to address such imbalances.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is for NHS boards to plan the skill mix of their staff according to the needs of their localities. The age range of qualified physiotherapists in NHSScotland is balanced with 55.7% in the 30 to 49 age group, 28.9% less than 30 and 15.4% in the 50 years and older group.

NHS Staff

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there are gaps within the NHS physiotherapy workforce and, if so, how it intends to address such gaps.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is the responsibility of NHS boards to determine the service requirements to meet the healthcare needs of their populations and plan the workforce to deliver the service.

NHS Staff

Dave Petrie (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS staff disciplinary cases in 2003 resulted in a suspended employee being (a) reinstated and (b) permanently dismissed, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, with the development of the Scottish Workforce Information Statistical System (SWISS) this kind of information will be available in the future.

  Employment practice policy and procedure is developed locally by NHS boards. These policies are explained in the Partnership Information Network (PIN) guideline entitled Management of Employee Conduct and can be downloaded from the Working in Health website:

  www.workinginhealth.com/workforce.

NHS Staff

Dave Petrie (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS staff grievances were upheld by the investigating body in 2003, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, with the development of the Scottish Workforce Information Statistical System (SWISS) information on staff grievances, such as the nature of the grievance and the outcome of investigation into grievances will be available in the future.

  Employment practice policy and procedure is developed locally by NHS boards. These policies are explained in the Partnership Information Network (PIN) guideline entitled Management of Employee Conduct and can be downloaded from the Working in Health website:

  www.workinginhealth.com/workforce.

NHS Staff

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new midwifery graduates found employment in the NHS in each of the last three years.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Executive has a Partnership Agreement commitment to ensure that every newly qualified nurse and midwife who wishes to work in NHS Scotland receives a one year guarantee of employment if they are unable to find employment through their own endeavours.

Parliamentary Questions

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list those journalists who receive copies of answers to parliamentary questions directly from the Scottish Executive’s Media and Communications Press Office at the same time that MSPs are notified of the answer, giving the news organisation which they represent and the dates when they were added to this distribution list.

Mr Tom McCabe: By longstanding arrangement the Scottish Executive issues batches of parliamentary answers to journalists once the answers have been sent to the MSPs who lodged the questions. It is open to all journalists covering parliamentary business to request this service. We do not hold records of when individual journalists asked to be included. Those currently receiving copies of answers are as follows:

  

Journalist
Organisation


Alastair Dalton
Scotsman


Alison Macdonald
BBC


Andrew Beaven
Daily Mail


Andrew Denholm
Herald


Andy Nicol
Sun


Angela Millar
BBC


Campbell Gunn
Sunday Post


Colin Mackay
Scottish Radio Holdings


David King
Daily Record


Eddie Barnes
Scotland on Sunday


Hamish Macdonell
Scotsman


Ian Swanson
Evening News


Jamie Livingstone
STV


Jason Allardyce
Sunday Times


Kate Foster
Scotsman


Kirsten Campbell
BBC


Louise Gray
Scotsman


Michael Howie
Scotsman


Mark Aitken
Mail on Sunday


Murdo MacLeod
Scotland on Sunday


Peter McMahon
Scotsman


Robbie Dinwoodie
Herald


Steve Bargeton
Courier


Shona Ross
Scotsman


Simon Johnson
Daily Mail


Stuart Nicolson
Daily Mail


Vic Roderick
Freelance

Prison Service

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what average amount of money is placed in prisoners’ bank accounts by relatives and what maximum amount is allowed to be so placed in their accounts.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  There are no limits in place with regards to funds either sent in or posted to prisoners. The SPS does apply limits to the subsequent flow of funding from personal cash accounts which restricts opportunity for abuse.

  The SPS does not know whether persons handing in or mailing money to prisoners are relatives.

Prison Service

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring is in place in respect of prisoners’ bank accounts.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  External bank accounts held by prisoners are not a matter for the SPS.

  The SPS sets up internal accounts for prisoners and these are subject to monitoring by SPS Intelligence staff, SPS Audit Unit and by Audit Scotland.

Prison Service

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison wardens were (a) disciplined, (b) dismissed, (c) charged and (d) prosecuted for smuggling illicit items into prisons in (i) 1997, (ii) 1998, (iii) 1999, (iv) 2000, (v) 2001, (vi) 2002, (vii) 2003, (viii) 2004 and (ix) 2005 and what the figures are for 2006.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS does not employ any "wardens". The SPS does not hold any information on prison officers who were charged or prosecuted for smuggling illicit items into prisons. Since 1997 two prison officers have been recorded as being disciplined and subsequently dismissed for smuggling illicit items into prisons.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have been found guilty of committing a crime in prison in each year since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Information on the number of prisoners found guilty of committing a crime in prison is not available. Allegations of criminal activity are passed onto the Police for further investigation and processing. The SPS do not hold information on the numbers subsequently found guilty.

Rail Network

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in relation to the proposed re-opening of Laurencekirk station and when it anticipates that construction work will begin.

Tavish Scott: We are currently assessing the final feasibility study, giving the costs and benefits of the re-opening of Laurencekirk station. I hope to be able to make a decision before the end of the year.

Renewable Energy

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses and developers have applied for a grant under the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative in each year since 2003.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative provides advice, development support and capital assistance for householders and non-profit distributing community organisations, including local authorities, housing associations, schools and voluntary groups. Therefore no private businesses have received assistance.

  Since 2004 the scheme has been open to builders, developers and architects to apply for grants on behalf of the future owners of houses they are building. The following applications have been received:

  2005-06: two applications

  2006-07: four applications.

Renewable Energy

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many accredited installers of renewable energy technologies operate in Scotland.

Nicol Stephen: There are 116 accredited installers operating in Scotland. 42 are based in Scotland.

Renewable Energy

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will develop the green credit scheme to create a diverse renewables portfolio.

Nicol Stephen: We are currently consulting on proposed changes to the Renewables Obligation Scotland (ROS) in order to provide a source of long-term, increased funding to wave and tidal energy generators. These changes, known as the Marine Supply Obligation (MSO), will come into effect in April 2007 and provide a strong market signal to developers and suppliers that Scotland is an excellent location to site and operate their devices.

  The MSO will oblige electricity suppliers to provide a proportion of the electricity they supply to customers in Scotland from wave and tidal resources. This proportion will rise, year on year, encouraging the growth of the marine energy industry and allowing it to compete with more commercially established renewables technologies.

Road Safety

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many motoring offences since 1999 have resulted in the fine or penalty paid being invested in road safety.

Cathy Jamieson: Only the income from the fixed penalties paid by drivers who have been detected speeding under the Safety Camera Programme are invested directly back into road safety. The Safety Camera Programme was first piloted in 2000 and from then, up until March 2006 which is the last date for which figures are available, a total of £22,476,000 from fixed penalty fine income was invested in road safety through the programme. This equates to just under 375,000 standard £60 fixed penalty fines.

Roads

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether draft road orders with specific reference to the finalised, rather than indicative, route will be published in respect of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route before full public consultation has been carried out.

Tavish Scott: Draft road orders will be published showing the final route proposals. The public consultation, as required by statute, will commence on the date of publication of the draft orders.

Roads

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will cross the Old Deeside Railway line and, if so, what action will be taken to ensure that the line will remain capable of supporting the future railway service to and from a re-opened Banchory station.

Tavish Scott: The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will pass beneath the former Deeside Railway line, allowing the future provision of a suitable bridge.

School Transport

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28963 by Peter Peacock on 31 October 2006, who it has commissioned to undertake the work to identify good practice in relation to school travel.

Robert Brown: Following a tendering process a contract for the work was awarded to MVA Consultancy.

School Transport

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28965 by Peter Peacock on 31 October 2006, whether the statement that information is not held centrally in the form requested indicates that the Executive does hold information on expenditure on school buses and, if so, to what such information pertains.

Robert Brown: The information held centrally on school transport relates to gross expenditure on all forms of school transport, and cannot be disaggregated to identify expenditure on dedicated school buses.

Scottish Enterprise

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24904 by Nicol Stephen on 1 June 2006 and given the constraints of Scottish Enterprise’s total resource budget, under what circumstances the funds in Scottish Enterprise’s general fund and capital reserves will be accessed and utilised.

Nicol Stephen: Scottish Enterprise may, with the agreement of the Scottish Executive, access and utilise a set amount of its reserves at any time. The Executive could in such circumstances reduce Scottish Enterprise’s cash grant in aid entitlement by the relevant amount, while increasing their non-cash budget by the same figure. The net effect would be that the given level of expenditure was funded from reserves instead of cash grant in aid, with the organisation’s total resource budget remaining unchanged.

  Scottish Enterprise received prior approval to access and utilise £20 million of its reserves in 2006-07. The Executive agreed to provide an equivalent additional amount of resource cover to enable this to happen. Details of how the additional resources were made available are provided in my letter to Sir John Ward on 11 May (Bib. number 39557).

Scottish Enterprise

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24904 by Nicol Stephen on 1 June 2006 and given the constraints of Scottish Enterprise’s total resource budget, what plans the Executive has to access and utilise the funds in Scottish Enterprise’s general fund and capital reserves.

Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-26862 on 14 November 2006. For 2006-07, the Executive has agreed that Scottish Enterprise should be able to utilise £20 million of its reserves.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Scottish Executive Staff

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered blind people it employs, broken down by department and expressed also as a percentage of its workforce.

Mr Tom McCabe: The number of permanent staff in the Scottish Executive core departments who have self-declared as having a visual disability is shown in the following table, broken down by department and expressed also as a percentage of the workforce. Visual impairment covers a variety of conditions.

  

 
No of Staff who have Self-Declared a Visual Disability
Percentage of Workforce


Development Department
1
0.4


Education Department
2
0.6


Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Dept
3
0.7


Environment and Rural Affairs Department
1
0.1


Finance and Central Services Department
2
0.4


Health Department
4
1.1


Justice Department
1
0.3


Legal and Parliamentary Services
1
0.5


Office Of The Permanent Secretary
1
0.1


Total
16
0.4

Sport

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will encourage the development and protection of green spaces within urban communities.

Johann Lamont: Draft Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 11: Physical Activity and Open Space was published in August 2006. The draft policy would for the first time make it a requirement that local authorities prepare an audit and strategy for open space.

  The draft SPP includes a presumption against development on existing valued and functional open space or space capable of being brought back into functional use. As informed by the audits and strategies, development plans will identify open spaces which are to be protected and enhanced. It also proposes that an area of open space should only be developed for other uses where the local authority’s open space strategy and development plan identify the area of open space as being surplus to current and future community requirements.

  In addition, the draft SPP proposes national minimum standards for inclusion of open space in certain types of new development, including housing and retail developments.

  Responses to the consultation, which closed on 3 November, are currently being considered.

Whisky Industry

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase the volume of malting barley available for the whisky distilling sector.

Ross Finnie: Following the decoupling of price support under the 2003 CAP reforms, farmers are free to decide what crops to grow. These decisions will be informed by their view of the market returns against other crops or activities. Ultimately, the market is best placed to determine supply issues, and the strong presence in Scotland of malting plants and distilleries should ensure that sufficient spring malting barley is grown in Scotland to meet this requirement.

Young Offenders

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people in young offender institutions have special educational needs.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  This information is not collected routinely by the SPS.

  Offenders who clearly require additional learning support are offered an individual learning plan adjusted to their needs.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Procurement

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what ethical guidelines it uses when considering the issuing of contracts to outside companies supplying the Parliament.

Nora Radcliffe: The ethical guidelines used by the SPCB when considering the issuing of contracts to outside companies supplying the Parliament include: The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006; EC procurement Directive 2004/18/EC; The Treaty of Rome and; the SPCB Procurement Policy Manual (available on the Parliament’s website:

  www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/procurement/policyManual/responsible.htm.

Procurement

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has any contracts with the Eden Springs water company and, if so, whether it is aware of reports that Eden Springs is in violation of international law by exploiting the water resources of the Golan Heights and, if so, whether it will reconsider its contracts on that basis and, if not, whether it will reconsider its contract should it become aware of any such allegations.

Nora Radcliffe: The SPCB does not have, nor ever has had, any contracts with the Eden Springs water company.